Is liberal a dirty word?

[penguin7]

Should we all be progressives instead of liberals?

What is the difference?

[ShortnFiery]

1. I'm an unabashed LIBERAL and proud of it. I really don't know why people use "progressive" title

but I don't judge them harshly. :shrug:

[rusty quoin]

2. Hey, I love the word liberal.

Look, the Nazis blamed the liberals for this and that. Do you think I feel dirty when Hannity blames the liberals for this and that. I think the word 'conservative' has a problem. You just watch.

[rusty quoin]

3. Look at that. The Carters agree.

[ShortnFiery]

5. Too Cool!

:thumbsup: :hi:

[B Calm]

4. I'd rather be called liberal than be a cheap labor conservative!

WHAT HAS GOP DONE FOR

WORKERS?

CLINT C. GOLD
10/24/1999
Tulsa World


Not too long ago, my wife and I attended a TV football
party in south Tulsa. With a lopsided score, the
conversation turned to a livelier subject -- politics. The
crowd was, of course, top-heavy with Republicans. With each
point expressed their faces became more flushed, eyes
bulging a little more and veins popping in their foreheads
as they railed against the liberal programs.

Finally a lone, liberal voice asked: "Will you people
name me one bill your party ever passed to help the working
man of this country?" The question created much din and
clamor, and someone sputtered, "Well, what have the
Democrats done?"

The liberal responded with a few programs and was
interrupted by howling and disdain. He noted that he had
not promised they would like the programs and he asked to
complete his statement -- a difficult task to ask of
Republicans.

He spoke of Social Security; Medicare-Medicaid; Peace
Corps; unemployment insurance; welfare (for the poor and
corporate); civil rights; student grant and loan programs;
safety laws (OSHA); environmental laws; prevailing wage
laws; right to collective bargaining (which brought about
paid medical insurance, paid vacations, pensions, etc.);
workers' compensation; Marshall Plan; flood-disaster
insurance; School Lunch Program; women's rights.

He spoke of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which
established a minimum wage, instituted child labor laws,
and set up time-and-a-half pay for over a 40-hour week.

He mentioned FHA-HUD with its public housing, urban
renewal and 44 million residential homes (before WWII
almost 70 percent of our nation were renters; by the 1970s
this had been reversed). And farm-conservation
subsidies -- USDA programs, Farmers Home Administration (the
bankers didn't want to make rural loans), small
flood-control lakes (more than 3,000 in Oklahoma alone),
rural water districts, rural electricity (REA).

The GI Bill was passed, which the Republicans at the
time bitterly opposed. They were salivating over millions
of returning veterans to hire as cheap labor. More than 8 million have used college benefits, creating millions of
entrepreneurs; most of us had never dreamed of college. For
the unemployed GI, there was $20 a week for 52 weeks to
help get started (a lot of money in those days). The
Veterans Administration provided more than 2 million home
loans.

For the bankers at the football party, it was pointed
out that the liberals saved their industry with the
creation of FDIC and FSLIC, insuring their deposits, and
saved Wall Street with the establishment of the Securities
Exchange Commission.

The oil men came on bended knees to FDR at a time when
East Texas oil was 4 cents a barrel and begged him to save
their industry. He did; prorationing overturned the rule of
capture and the days of flush production were over.
Prorating has served this great industry (and nation)
well.


And the list went on and on, but of course this group
didn't let him get halfway through. He noted they were
weary, inattentive, so again he challenged them to offer up
any Republican legislation examples.

"I'm sure your party has authored one or two comparable
bills from time to time, but I can't think of any, and
apparently you can't either. What it boils down to is this:
the liberals dragged you into the 20th century scratching
and screaming with your heels in the mud, fighting anything
that's progressive, everything that's made this country
great. You Republicans have never understood that the
spending power of blue-collar workers, obtained through
Democrats and unions, is what really made this country
great. You really believe "The Good Life" was obtained from
your own endeavors. You cloak your greed in religion and
patriotism, railing against any form of tax, never
comprehending that these programs have benefitted all of us
and our country."

Well, I almost didn't make it out of the house. My wife
and I didn't even get to see the end of the football game.


If Reps. Steve Largent or J.C. Watts had been there,
perhaps politics would never have come up, only the game
plan ... pity.

Clint C. Gold is former mayor of Moore and a retired
savings and loan executive.

[liberal N proud]

6. Only in right wing homes and circles

They have done everything they can to make the liberal tag a terrible thing. The right wing projection game.

[Cha]

7. No...just because some fascist wing

hack says it is? I don't think so.

I'm a progressive, though, because the opposite of that is regressive which is what repukes are.

[Atman]

8. Not according to my bumper

http://www.cafepress.com/rmcg_artware.18030460">Available here

.

[connecticut yankee]

9. I've never considered "Liberal" a dirty word

I'm a Liberal, and proud of it.

My thesaurus gives synonyms of Liberal as: generous, openhanded, unsparing, benevolent, charitable, broad-minded tolerant and philanthropic.

Progressive is a synonym for Liberal.

What's there to be ashamed of?

It was the Repukes that consider Liberal a dirty word.

[KittyWampus]

10. Liberal means unregulated. Neo-liberal means unregulated markets. It's inaccurate

and not descriptive enough. But not "dirty".

I think a lot of DU'ers and Lefties don't really know what the word means and its connotations.

Progressive suits me fine.

[Wiley50]

11. It Doesn't Fit Into The 4 Letter Rule

But then again, repukes can't count

[OHdem10]

12. Liberal represents the best. of the best.

[question everything]

13. No one can say it better than "Matt Santos"

during the "Presidential debate" from the West Wing

MS:"I know you like to use that word 'liberal' as if it were a crime."

AV: "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used that word. I know Democrats think liberal is a bad word. So bad you had to change it. What do you call yourselves now, progressives? Is that it?"

MS: "It's true. Republicans have tried to turn liberal into a bad word. Well, liberals ended slavery in this country."

AV: "A Republican President ended slavery."

MS: "Yes, a liberal Republican, Senator. What happened to them? They got run out of your party. What did liberals do that was so offensive to the liberal party? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things ­ every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator. Because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor."

[mcscajun]

16. Thank you. I'd have posted that if you hadn't already. But JFK has him beat.

Matt Santos (fictional character) had the finest speech in defense of "Liberal" since JFK's real one:

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

[Liberal In Texas]

14. Liberal. And I don't take any shit off of anybody who says it to me with a sneer.

Don't let people like Limpballs define us.

[L. Coyote]

15. Well, I've lived where they kill leftists. It could happen anywhere.

I traveled thru El Salvador when leftists were shot at roadblocks.
One day they made a mistake, and killed the son of one of the generals!

[Marr]

17. The Republicans have spent the last six years rehabilitating the word "liberal".

Don't give it up now. The American public knows two things about Republicans:

1. They are thieving, lying perverts
2. They hate liberals

This is a good time to sport the liberal label.

[Generic Brad]

18. They are making "conservative" the poison word

They better not try to re-brand themselves as Progressive Republicans.

[BlooInBloo]

19. Alright - who opened the time capsule?

[Blue-Jay]

20. Only when you say it in a sexy voice.

[KharmaTrain]

21. Progressive Roots:

From wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Progressive_Party

The name Progressive Party has been assigned to a collection of parties in the United States over the past century or so. They have a connection to each other through a shared list of principles, a dedication to having the people run the government , and several members retained their membership through the changes in national leadership. They all sought to change the status quo through the evolving ideology of progressivism. None of the parties listed below realized national electoral success. However, the Progressive Party of 1912 came in second (ahead of the Republican Party's candidate William Howard Taft) in the Presidential Election of 1912, Wisconsin had a formidable Progressive Party in the 1930s and the Vermont Progressive Party currently controls several seats in the state legislature and the mayorality of Burlington.

In younger days, I read a great deal about folks like Teddy Roosevelt, Battling Bob LaFollette, Henry Wallace and others...people-powered candidates of their time who represent using government for positive advancement of social and economic justice. The agendas are similar to liberal, but with a pro-active view rather than attempting to revise past wrongs.

[WillyT]

22. I Hope This Helps...

<snip>

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

<snip>

Link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/psources/ps_nyliberal.html

:hi:

[alfredo]

23. It's a dirty word and I have a filthy mouth.

[Double T]

24. Born and bred LIBERAL and proud of it.

'neocon', NOW that's a real dirty word!!!!

[Quantess]

25. No. But "progressive" might be more accurate.

Conservatives are extremely liberal spenders, for example.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. From Answers.com...

lib·er·al (lĭb'ər-əl, lĭb'rəl)
adj.

Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.
Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.

Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor.
Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes.
Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation.
Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education.

Archaic. Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman.
Obsolete. Morally unrestrained; licentious.
n.
A person with liberal ideas or opinions.
Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.



liberally lib'er·al·ly adv.
liberalness lib'er·al·ness n.
SYNONYMS liberal, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded. These adjectives mean willing or marked by a willingness to give unstintingly: a liberal backer of the arts; a bounteous feast; bountiful compliments; a freehanded host; a generous donation; a handsome offer; a munificent gift; fond and openhanded grandparents. See also synonyms at broad-minded.
ANTONYM stingy